With the possibility of the declaration of Lok Sabha any time, all are eyeing the announcement of the candidates of the ruling and opposition factions to be fielded in the forthcoming parliamentary polls. However, it is believed that the ruling saffron BJP may announce the names of candidates for the Lok Sabha elections in the coming two-three days as most of the aspects pertaining to the same have been mulled over in core committee’s meeting held recently. While in this regard, political experts are of the opinion that one of the key factors responsible for the delay in announcing the names of Lok Sabha candidates by BJP is that the decision on alliance with ally JJP, which has been in power for the last four years, is yet to be taken. Although JJP has repeatedly indicated not to go solo in the polls while contrary to this, the several BJP leaders are of the notion to contest the polls alone stating that the BJP does not need the crutches of the JJP to mark third consecutive victory. Since the BJP stalwarts are not not unanimous on this issue, the party seems in a political dilemma. In continuation to aforesaid, Jats which constitute a sizable vote share in Haryana i.e. around 30 percent, play a significant role in forming the government. In such a situation, considering the political importance of the Jat vote bank, no party is in a position to ignore Jat voters.
It is a noticeable faction that the saffron BJP and the Jat community have been at loggerheads over several issues which also led to ruckus in the political corridors several times. Amidst the ongoing discussions and the possibility with the present ally JJP, the BJP is strategiging to galvanise the Jat voters ahead of the polls. The JJP which succeeded in gaining a sizable share of Jat voters in 2019 assembly polls, is believed to be losing its hold among the community. Be the alliance between the BJP and JJP remains in existence or contrary to this, the BJP is no toes to stop the polarization of the Jat voters in support of the Congress and the party heavyweight Bhupinder Singh Hooda. Even the JJP bigwigs are also pretty aware that Jat voters who made the party win 10 seats in assembly polls in 2019 , are disgruntled and most likely to add to its woes. However, JJP is continuously trying to remove the resentment of Jat and rural voters. If alliance prevails, the BJP would also like to get the benefit of Jat and rural vote banks that JJP gets.
Several BJP big shot in Haryana are continuously opposing the continuance of the alliance with its partner citing that JJP’s position in Haryana has weakened in recent times and due to this, BJP may face loss in the upcoming elections if it keeps the alliance. Political experts believe that even if there is no alliance, BJP would like to use it as an advantage. In Haryana, the influence of Jat vote bank has mostly been towards Congress and INLD. At present, polarization of the Jat vote bank seems to be more towards Congress and party stalwart Bhupendra Singh Hooda. In the recent past, the Jat vote bank has also dispersed from INLD, while the Jat vote bank is upset with the JJP . In such a situation, in case of no alliance, BJP would like that the Jat vote bank should not go unilaterally to Congress and some part of it should also go to INLD and JJP.
Actually, during the BJP regime, the Jat community’s resentment has increased with the BJP and then in the coalition government, including the BJP and the JJP. During the farmers’ movement, the Jat community along with rural voters and the BJP were eyeball to eyeball over three contentious agriculture laws. Even after the peasant movement 2.0, the rift between both sides widened. It is not that the Haryana BJP does not have big faces from the Jat community in the party, but the problem here is that the Jat leaders of the party have had to face resentment from Jat voters on many issues. Among the Jat leaders in the party, there are heavyweights like Captain Abhimanyu, OP Dhankhar and Subhash Barala, but all three had to face a debacle in the last assembly elections. Apart from this, the distance between BJP and Jat voters also increased on the issue of wrestlers’ and farmers’ issues.
